Two more elite prospects made their MLB debuts on Tuesday, adding to the wave of extremely talented rookies.The New York Mets sent Zack Wheeler to the mound for the first time, while the Tampa Bay Rays unveiled Wil Myers, one of the best hitting prospects in the country.There have been quite a few spectacular MLB debuts so far this year, but did Wheeler and Myers keep that trend going? Let's take a look at how each mega-prospect fared in their big league debuts.Begin Slideshow
Braves vs. Mets Video: Watch Ugly Collision Between Upton Brothers
The Upton brothers got a little too close for comfort on Tuesday night.B.J. Upton and Justin Upton collided in left-centerfield on Tuesday night as the Atlanta Braves took on the New York Mets.You can clearly see B.J. waving off his younger brother, but Justin didn't hear him and the two collided right as B.J. makes the catch and hangs on.The two were obviously just fine, as B.J. shoves his younger bro as the two walk off the field together, but I'm not sure Mrs. Upton will be so happy.It's one thing to see two players collide and joke about it, but how often do we see brothers do it?Twitter had a bit of fun with the collision too:
Upton brothers fall down, go boom. http://t.co/vsI6LSttVw— Erik Malinowski (@erikmal) June 19, 2013
VIDEO: Upton brothers collide in outfield, but no one's hurt, so it's funny. http://t.co/gtP8l4ZzEP— Deadspin (@Deadspin) June 19, 2013
Too ...
New York Yankees Acquire Former Top Prospect Fernando Martinez
Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Houston Astros have agreed to send outfielder Fernando Martinez to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Charles Basford.Martinez, a former top prospect in the New York Mets organization who was ranked as high as No. 22 on Baseball America's Top-100 prospects list, has failed to make an impact in parts of five big league seasons with the Mets and Astros.He owns a career WAR of -1.4, mostly because of his terrible triple-slash line of .206/.269/.362. He has just nine home runs, 29 RBI and two stolen bases to his name in 282 career at-bats.It's unknown as to how Martinez will be used in New York. Manager Joe Girardi already has five outfielders—Vernon Wells, Brett Gardner, Ichiro Suzuki,Thomas Neal and Zoilo Almonte—on the roster. Neal could be sent down in favor of Martinez (as could Almonte), though ...
MLB Prospects Update: Hottest, Coldest Pitchers at Every Minor League Level
Selected by the Red Sox with the 39th overall pick in the 2011 draft, Anthony Ranaudo was expected to make a quick ascent to the major leagues. However, the 6’7” right-hander hit a roadblock during his sophomore campaign in 2011, as he battled a groin injury over the first few months of the season prior to being shut down for the season in July with shoulder fatigue. Making up for lost time, the 23-year-old decided to pitch in the Puerto Rico Winter League during the offseason and began to look more like the pitcher the Red Sox envisioned when they drafted him a few years earlier. More importantly, he’s built upon that success this season at Double-A Portland while emerging as one of the top pitchers in the minor leagues. Things have truly come full circle for Ranaudo, who turned in his best outing as a professional on Friday against ...
Does Roy Oswalt Have Enough Left to Be Rockies’ NL West X-Factor?
The Colorado Rockies will call Roy Oswalt up from Double-A back to the MLB on Thursday after completing his rehab, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
Official that Oswalt will start Thursday— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) June 18, 2013
After breezing through the minor leagues in his rehab starts, Oswalt is on his way up, according to NBC Sports.
Oswalt made five starts in the minors, throwing 33 innings with a 2.16 ERA and 25/7 K/BB ratio at Double-A, where he was just named the Texas League pitcher of the week. He held opponents to a .211 batting average, but did serve up five homers in five starts. Oswalt’s most recent outing was 8.1 innings of shutout ball Friday with seven strikeouts versus one walk.
Oswalt will face the Washington Nationals in his first start this year, a team that he has gone 4-4 against with a 3.33 ERA ...
Picking the Under-25 MLB All-Star Team for 2013
What if the Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played only by those younger than 25 years old?While "old fogeys" like Miguel Cabrera (30 years old), Robinson Cano (also 30), Joey Votto (29) and even Buster Posey (26) will get their due on the big stage at Citi Field in July, we thought it would be more fun to focus on identifying the most All-Star-worthy youngsters in the game this season.Here's a look at the Under-25 All-Star Team for 2013. All statistics come from Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs; WAR totals come from FanGraphs.Begin Slideshow
Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays Live Blog: Instant Reactions and Analysis
The Boston Red Sox struck first in the afternoon half of their doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Rain delayed the game nearly three hours in the bottom of the fifth inning, which ended the starters' outings earlier than planned. Boston's Alfredo Aceves went five innings, allowing only three hits and one run.Chris Archer threw 4.2 innings for the Rays, surrendering five hits, walking five batters and giving up four runs in the process. The Red Sox led 4-1 at the time of the delay and added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Shane Victorino tripled to to right field. With the 5-1 win, Boston improved to an AL East-best 43-29. The Rays fell to 36-34 and six games behind Boston.Tampa Bay has now dropped five of its last six games. The first game of the doubleheader marked the MLB debut of Wil Myers, one of Tampa Bay's top prospects. ...
Players That Contending Teams Hope Will Be Available at MLB Trade Deadline
Earlier today, I named seven players guaranteed to be traded by the July 31st deadline. Not surprisingly, all seven will be free agents after the season and play on teams that aren't in playoff contention now and aren't expected to be a month from now. On the flip side, there is an entire different group of players that might become available if their teams either fall out of the playoff race or fail to make a run to get back to within striking distance. Then there are the rebuilding teams, such as the Astros and Marlins, with valuable trade chips who are under team control for a few more seasons. Trading them could make sense if a particular organization feels that the return will help expedite the rebuilding process. Which teams will be left standing as playoff contenders in late July is still to be determined, but it's likely that many of ...
With Injuries Piling Up, Is Alex Rodriguez Now the Yankees’ Savior?
"Do you miss me now?"I can't help but imagine that Alex Rodriguez is out there somewhere, saying that very thing with a wry smile on his face. He has to know that the New York Yankees are going through some hard times. This has cast a new light on his road back from a January hip operation.The Yankees suddenly have a strong need for A-Rod.In case you're just now crawling out from underneath a rock, Tuesday has been injury central in the Bronx. Yanks general manager Brian Cashman hinted to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com and other reporters on Monday that first baseman Mark Teixeira could end up back on the disabled list after aggravating his right wrist, and the club made the move official on Tuesday.On top of that, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reported that third baseman Kevin Youkilis is also going on the DL, and he's guaranteed to be ...
Matt Harvey’s Career-High Strikeout Game Inching Him Closer to Being the Best
Matt Harvey had the game of his life for seven innings on Tuesday. His 13-strikeout performance inches him closer to being the best in the National League.The New York Mets ace threw seven frames, giving up three hits and three runs as New York beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-3.I'm not ready to hand over the title "best" to Harvey just yet, as I think Adam Wainwright and Clayton Kershaw have something to say about that.However, Harvey is continuing to show why Mets fans can't get enough of him.He's 6-1 with a league-leading 115 strikeouts and a 2.16 ERA. Kershaw (1.84) and Shelby Miller (2.08) are the only ones with a better ERA than him.There's a lot to be excited about for New York fans, especially considering the possibility of Harvey starting the All-Star Game. All-Star StartWith the All-Star Game being at Citi Field, Mets fans are hoping that manager Bruce Bochy ...